| Battle of Lỗ Giáng | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theVietnam War (Tet Offensive) | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States |  North Vietnam Viet Cong | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| MGDonn J. Robertson | COL Giáp Văn Cương | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 32 killed | USbody count: 286 killed | ||||||
 | |||||||
TheBattle of Lỗ Giáng took place during theVietnam War from 8-9 February 1968, when thePeople's Army of Vietnam (PAVN)'s2nd Division attacked theĐà Nẵng Air Base as part of theTet Offensive (Tết Mậu Thân). The attack was repelled byU.S. Marine Corps andU.S. Army units.
On 7 February 1968, the1st Marine Division commander Major generalDonn J. Robertson informedIII Marine Amphibious Force commander Lieutenant generalRobert E. Cushman Jr. that the PAVN 2nd Division had evadedArmy of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) andRepublic of Korea Marine Corps positions south of Da Nang and threatened2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines and3rd Battalion, 5th Marines positions immediately south of Da Nang Air Base.
After sharing these concerns at a meeting that day withCOMUSMACV GeneralWilliam Westmoreland, Westmoreland ordered23rd Infantry Division commander MGSamuel W. Koster to make some of his battalions available to the Marines to bolster their defense. It was decided to deploy 2 battalions from the 23rd Division to support the 3/5 Marines near Cầu Đỏ onHighway 1. One battalion was to deploy immediately, with the other to deploy the next day. Both battalions would be under the operational control of the 1st Marine Division. On the afternoon of 7 February Marine helicopters deployed the1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment into the hamlet of Dương Sơn (1) (15°58′52″N108°11′24″E / 15.981°N 108.190°E /15.981; 108.190) 2km south of Cầu Đỏ.[1]: 160–2
At 03:45 on 8 February, the PAVN began mortaring theCombined Action Program (CAP) E-4 compound in the hamlet of Lỗ Giáng (1)(16°00′00″N108°12′07″E / 16.0°N 108.202°E /16.0; 108.202), 4km northeast of Dương Sơn (1) and by daybreak had surrounded the hamlet. At 07:00, Robertson moved the 1/6th Infantry to Lỗ Giáng (5) (16°00′29″N108°13′01″E / 16.008°N 108.217°E /16.008; 108.217), 1km northeast of Lỗ Giáng (1) where they were quickly engaged by another enemy force. Robertson then deployed the 2/3 Marines and 3/5 Marines to support the 1/6th Infantry and they were engaged in battle until late afternoon. Meanwhile, a 15-man Marine detachment attempted to move south from Hòa Vang (16°00′47″N108°12′18″E / 16.013°N 108.205°E /16.013; 108.205) to relieve Lỗ Giáng (1), but all but one were killed. At 15:50, the CAP platoon in Lỗ Giáng (1) was evacuated by Marine helicopters with gunship and air support. PAVN losses were over 150 killed.[1]: 162
On the evening of 8 February, the2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment was deployed and the Army task force named Task Force Miracle under the command of Colonel Louis Gelling established its command near Dương Sơn. Gelling deployed the 2/1st Infantry in blocking positions south of Lỗ Giáng (1).[1]: 162
On the morning of 9 February the 2/1st Infantry attacked north, engaging a PAVN force in a nine hour battle, later finding 46 PAVN bodies and taking one prisoner who revealed that he was from the 3rd Battalion, 31st Regiment, while the forces in Lỗ Giáng (5) were from theVietcong (VC) 1st Regiment. West of Lỗ Giáng the 2/3 Marines engaged two companies from the 1st Regiment killing 90.[1]: 163
Marine intelligence reported on 9 February that the PAVN 2nd Division was moving its headquarters back to its usual positions in the Gò Nổi Island area (15°51′04″N108°11′10″E / 15.851°N 108.186°E /15.851; 108.186). Task Force Miracle continued to patrol the Lỗ Giáng area for two days, but on 11 February Cushman released control of Task Force Miracle back to the 23rd Infantry Division.[1]: 163
Marine losses were 14 killed, Army losses were 18 killed, while PAVN/VC losses were in excess of 286.[1]: 163 PAVN claim that their 1st Regiment eliminated nearly one U.S. Battalion.[2]
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